TomG

Ditto on what Aaron and Dwight said. Especially the one about smaller projects. Make a single coaster. A key fob. Something you can do in an hour or so. It will give you the sense of accomplishment and ease the frustration

For those of you who use an airbrush, what do you use to put your piece on to spray? I need to redo the way I've done it in the past. One guy I met a few years ago, built a square box about 3 feet long and 2 feet high, put a piece of wire mesh on the front with hooks to hold the piece vertical. He had a fan and filter in the back to exhaust the overspray. Nice if you have the room, which a lot of us don't have. Pictures? Thanks

Thanks to all. Looks like my method was OK, just not a steady enough hand. I finally got a good one. Actually, I have an airbrush, but apparently I didn't clean I well enough last time I used it and it's all gunked up and I think my needle might be damaged Plus, right now, I don't have a place to spray without triggering divorce proceedings. That brings up another subject, but I think I'll start a new thread for it. Later

As the title says, what is the best way to achieve a fade on a 1-1/2" wide strap without an airbrush? I need to go from saddle tan in the middle to almost black on the outer edges. I've done it a long time ago, but can't remember exactly what I used. I've got pictures of some pretty smooth fades. I'm thinking sponges with several shades of brown, but it's not working this time around. It's choppy and streaky at the edges. Any tips or help? Thanks

Here's a couple of different shots of a bracelet I'm making for someone. This was resisted with full strength Resolene, dried overnight, dyed with Fiebings oil dye cut about 50% with denatured alcohol. Then Leather Balm with Atom wax applied, dried and buffed. Then a heavy coat of black antiquing gel rubbed in and then wiped off immediately. Like I said before... Only one way of many.

What is Linwax?

That stuff is actually a water-based stain. Like Cyber said.. NOT a dye.. Looking at Tandy's video on using resist, George only applies 1 coat and says to let it dry overnight. But again, Cyber is right. If you put a very heavy coat on, 30 minutes is not enough time to set. If you look through these forums, you are going to find dozens of different techniques, tricks, tips and suggestions. You will find that most, it seems, do not like Super Sheen (or Satin Sheen) and prefer Resolene diluted 50/50 with water. A less expensive equivalent is Mop N Glow floor wax cut 50/50 as well. Lots of folks swear by it for a resist as well as a top coat. But your coasters don't look bad- especially for a first attempt

Has anyone ever laid down a coat of contact cement to fill the leather. I thought I had seen somewhere that if the leather was very rough and porous, to lay down a coat, let it dry, then lay down a second coat, allow to tack up as normal and slap together. Not sure how that would work.

Tandy's Library has downloadable patterns. Here's a link. I've made a couple of these and they are pretty straightforward. https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/p-1225-2697-disco-bag-pattern-pak.aspx?

I haven't used Clear Lac, but I have used Saddle Lac. The only issue I've had so far is that it seems hard to spray on a very light coat. And too thick of a coat will make it actually flake off. In your experience, what is the difference and why do you not like the SL?

Tandy has a few different contact type cements. The new low VOC has had universally poor performance reports. The original works well. They also carry Barge cement with folks here swear by. Other pros on the board here swear by Weldwood contact cement from the hardware store. I've use both Weldwood and Tandy's original and not seen a whole lot of difference. I took the new low VOC stuff back.

Get a shallow plastic tray and use it under your bottles when working with the dyes. Fold a sheet or 2 of newspaper to put in the bottom of the tray to absorb spills. I also use the syringes to transfer dyes for dilution. Go to your local pharmacy and look for 60ML ones. They are big and hold lots of dye. You will need one for each color you will work with. Some 18 gauge needles would be useful as well. After use, store them in individual ziplock bags for next time. As for the tongue slot, you are looking for an Oblong punch, also called a Bag punch. You can get them from most leather tool suppliers... Tandy, SLC, etc. There was also a thread just posted about tools, jigs and so on that had a user show his homemade punches. He used conduit and from the pictures, they looked better than some of the commercially made ones.

That was it. Thanks for finding it.

Some time back, this centering discussion came up and someone posted a photo of a simple jig that was self-centering on a strap. I just spent and hour or so looking for the thread and looking for the JPG on my PC, but can't find it on either. It was basically a square of thick Plexi, a line drawn down the center with a hole drilled in the middle to allow the punch to fit in, and 2 pins along that line on either side. You put I over the strap and rotate it so the pins touch the leather on either side and that centers the punch hole. If someone else remembers it, maybe they can post the link or picture.

OK. So spill the beans.... Did they have any idea of the thread size?

I just bought a guide for Gregg at Keystone for my Singer 111W155. Although I had to drill and tap 1 hole, it was a pretty easy task and works like a champ. I think it was a clone/Asian version of the Juki, but he can fill you in on any particulars for your needs. He's good to do business with.

Just an FYI to this thread. I modified a Consew CS-1000 and it works great. Just a couple of notes. This motor (new last month or 2), has a VERY bright LED. A piece of paper did NOT work. I had to use a heavy piece of plastic (cut up old gift card). I made a modified sloped pieced and taped it under the original arm. One issue I noticed is that with the original heavy paper I used, it started sagging and changed the amount of light allowed through. The plastic will stop that, but I don't trust the tape for a permanent solution. I have also bought a couple of spare arms from SE Sewing and am going to modify one to make a shallower slope and will report on how it works.

A machine shop will have thread gauges to tell you if it's a SAE, NF or Metric thread. It may not be so much a secret as no one really knows <g>... Tom

Well, it says you can't get any new messages...

The LL address is via my webhost. I have an Enterprise account and I manage 3 or 4 websites, including my own. I really haven't had issues with anything else. Not to say it's not an internal problem on my end... I switched my email address here to my charter.net address and now get notifications on the forums I follow. Gonna send you a PM with what I see on the server.

True, Cyber, but for some reason, the emails from the forum are coming into my email server as an IP address that IS listed as a poor reputation. That's why they get junked. I changed to my personal email address and am getting the emails. But I'd like to find out why this is happening to my legacyleathercraft.com emails.

I checked with my ISP and they said the server used to send them out here is on a Barracuda Block List. I emailed admin here to ask them to see if anyone else has the issue and maybe send their IP address in to unblock it. In the mean time, I'm going to have to use a different email address and see if it goes through Later

Thanks. I'll check my local welding supplier and see what they have. I haven't brazed anything since high school. Forgot all about that method.

I need to make some custom links out of brass D-rings and round rings. Can anyone tell me the best way to weld the ends back together after I cut and link them? Thanks

Is anyone else having problems following forums? I used to get emails for all posts in forums that I follow but I haven't gotten a single one in a while now.